Moore arrives for a special screening of "Fahrenheit 9/11" in New York City (AFP)

LOS ANGELES (IslamONline.net & News Agencies) - A week before "Fahrenheit 9/11" opens nationally in theatres in the United States, Michael Moore's scathing documentary critique of the Bush administration has become a lightning rod for political debate over propaganda, patriotism and censorship.

Lining up behind the film are such Democratic luminaries as ex-New York Governor Mario Cuomo and former Clinton White House aides Chris Lehane and Mark Fabiani, plus a host of showbiz celebrities and the liberal activists of the anti-Bush group MoveOn, reported Reuters Saturday, June 19.

Rushing to the administration's defense are veteran Republican strategist Sal Russo, along with California conservatives Howard Kaloogian and Melanie Morgan and their group, Move America Forward.

The documentary, which won winning the Cannes film festival’s top prize in May, explores links between the Bush family and powerful Saudi Arabians, including relatives of Osama bin Laden.

It also contends that US President George Bush thrust America into war with Iraq by propagating misinformation and exploiting public fear in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Political fallout from the film has been magnified by the backers' stated intention to shape the US presidential election in November, which is being cast in many quarters as a referendum on Bush's so-called war on terror and the US-led invasion of Iraq .

"Moore's film offers the opportunity to elect more intelligently than ever before," Cuomo said this week in announcing he would spearhead efforts to obtain a PG-13 rating for the movie instead of the more restrictive R classification received from the Motion Picture Association of America.

For his own part, Moore insists that while he wants to see Bush defeated in November, he is a political independent who has not endorsed presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry and does not regard his film as anti-Bush per se.

"The issues I'm raising in this film are going to be with us a year from now, regardless of who's in the White House," he told Reuters in a recent interview.

"I do not want my work of art to be reduced to a Bush vs. Kerry thing. ... If Kerry's in the White House, I'll keep my camera on him."

Moore had earlier accused the White House of seeking to block  the film's release in the US .

The movie's independent distributors, Lions Gate Films and IFC Films, plan a nationwide launch of the film next Friday in more than 700 theatres in what will be one of the biggest roll-outs ever for a documentary.

Opponents have mounted a campaign to discredit the film as "anti-American" and to pressure theatre owners to boycott it.

"'Fahrenheit 9/11' serves one purpose and one purpose only: to undermine the United States ' war against terrorism," argued Kaloogian, a former California assemblyman.

A statement this week by Move America Forward claimed "Fahrenheit 9/11" was endorsed by the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah, which the US government has designated as a terrorist group.

"It would be more appropriate to have this propaganda shown at Al-Qaeda training camps rather than American movie theatres," said Morgan, a talk show host on San Francisco radio station KSFO AM and vice chair of Move America Forward.

However, Moore 's supporters insist the campaign to stifle "Fahrenheit 9/11" will work to the film's advantage, generating controversy that ultimately would lead more exhibitors to show the film and more people to see it.

"The misguided efforts of a few to try and suppress and censor the film will backfire," said Tom Ortenberg, president of Lions Gate Films Releasing.

"One of the most important lessons of 'Fahrenheit 9/11' is that we need less censorship in this country, not more."

He acknowledged that a few exhibitors had expressed some concern about the politically charged nature of the film but knew of none who had turned down the movie.

Moore , 50, is also a best-selling author who wrote "Downsize This! Random Threats from an Unarmed American," "Stupid White Men" and "Dude Where's My Country?"

His other documentary films include "The Big One" and "Bowling for Columbine," the Oscar-winning documentary about the Columbine, Colorado, school shootings in which Moore slams the US gun lobby.

Moore used his Oscar winning speech on March 23, 2003 , to launch a diatribe on Bush, saying that "fictitious election" results in "fictitious presidents ".